For Alex Gruzen, CEO of wireless charging pioneer WiTricity, working with a tech-focused venture capital firm in China seemed a natural fit. Gruzen knew China well from his time at Compaq, Hewlett-Packard, and then Dell, where he led the company’s global notebook business. Since joining Boston-based WiTricity, Gruzen’s priorities included getting the tech right, growing the US customer base, and then breaking out in China, where the automotive and consumer electronics industries – the company’s primary targets for licensing and embedding its technology – have seen meteoric growth.The Chinese investor in this case was Haiyin Capital, a Beijing-based venture firm deploying its third fund with a new cross-border focus. Yuquan Wang, Haiyin’s founding partner, had experience partnering with American firms; early on in his career as a consultant for US consulting firm Frost & Sullivan, he helped China Mobile grow to become by market cap the largest mobile telecom company in the world. With a decade of venture capital experience, Wang had a profound appreciation for the potential of untapped synergies in the Chinese and US tech worlds.“The next Steve Jobs won’t come from China,” Wang noted, referring to Apple’s former CEO. “But he’ll need China if he expects to build a global company. Our idea is to find those companies in the US and help them use China to achieve explosive growth.”

As part of a three-city stop aimed at highlighting opportunities for U.S. and Chinese cooperation in tech investment, Haiyin Capital coordinated an appearance by four companies on the popular CCTV show "Dialogue." This episode included Silicon Valley investors Reid Hoffman (LinkedIn) and Peter Thiel (PayPal), who along with a live audience at Qinghua University heard from Wicab CTO Rich Hogle, Hanson Robotics founder David Hanson, LightSail Energy Chief Scientist Danielle Fong, and WiTricity CEO Alex Gruzen.

Someday soon, plug-in cars may no longer need plugging in.Electric cars and plug-in hybrids won’t recharge their batteries through a bulky cord. Instead, a small pad placed on the garage floor — or maybe embedded in it — will transmit energy to a receiver on the car’s undercarriage, no wires needed. Just drive over the pad, park and forget about it.

That’s the vision of WiTricity, a Boston-area startup backed by Toyota and Intel. Its technology resembles the cordless charging pads already available for smartphones and tablets, but it can transmit more power over greater distance.Spun out of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in 2007, WiTricity isn’t the only company chasing this particular vision, with Qualcomm, Bosch and Evatran rolling out their own versions. WiTricity CEO Alex Gruzen argues that wireless recharging will soon become the norm, for personal electronics, medical devices and, yes, cars. The power cord’s days may be numbered.“I’ll have it in my kitchen counter, my bedside table, probably my coffee table,” Gruzen said. “And throughout my day, I’ll be casually topping off my devices with this quick ‘energy snacking.’ The same thing will happen in the automotive space, because when you park, it’ll just charge, and you won’t be thinking about it.”Toyota was an early investor in the company, which has raised $45 million. The world’s largest automaker plans to offer WiTricity’s technology as an option on its plug-in hybrid Prius, Gruzen said. A Toyota spokeswoman declined to confirm any specific plans to outfit the Prius with WiTricity’s gear. But the automaker announced a licensing agreement with WiTricity in 2013 and has field-tested the equipment.Honda uses WiTricity to recharge a Fit EV at one of the auto company’s showcase “smart homes” near Tokyo. And several of the world’s largest auto-industry suppliers, including Delphi Corp. and IHI Corp., have licensed WiTricity’s technology.

Chinese venture capital firm Haiyin Capital is flying 10 of its American portfolio companies to China this Friday, including three Boston-area startups.Woburn-based flying car maker Terrafugia, Bedford-based solar tech company 1366 Technologies and Watertown wireless electricity company WiTricity will be visiting three of China's largest economic-development centers: Beijing, Hangzhou and Guangzhou.

The purpose of the 10-day trip is to entice the early-stage companies in Haiyin's portfolio to possibly open manufacturing plants in China and foster new partnerships with America's up-and-coming tech startups.To read the full article click here.